President Joe Biden and top Democrats in Congress have said in the past they want security on the U.S. border but also plan on giving amnesty to over ten million illegal immigrants, while only adding minimal border security measures.
Biden plans to send a package to Congress which would give around 11 million illegal immigrants who are in the country a pathway to citizenship, according to the LA Times. The plan would make it so illegal immigrants would become eligible for legal permanent residence after five years and give them U.S. citizenship after another three years.
Meanwhile, an estimated 9,000 Honduran migrants are fleeing conditions in their home country and headed to the U.S. There were around 2,000 members of a migrant caravan who were able to make it past Guatemalan authorities Friday. The Mexican authorities have deployed troops to stop the arrival of the caravan on its border.
Biden, former president Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer all have previously said they are in favor of new fencing and other physical barriers along the southern border, and then President Donald Trump was elected, causing Democrats to walk back their former comments.
The Washington Post put together a compilation of old clips of Democrats voicing their support for more border security and spliced it with comments made in past years, where they change their tune on securing the southern border.
“I voted for a fence, I voted unlike most Democrats and some of you won’t like it. I voted for 700 miles of fence and let me tell you, something folks,” Biden said speaking to a South Carolina rotary club in November 2006. “People are driving across that border with tons, tons- hear me- tons of everything from byproducts for methamphetamines to cocaine to heroin. And it’s all coming up through corrupt Mexico.”
The video then cuts to a clip of Biden slamming Trump for wanting to build a border wall. (RELATED: Immigration Expert Says Biden’s Immigration Plans Could Provide Amnesty For Millions Of People)
“The impulse is to hunker down, shut the gates, build walls, exit at this moment, is precisely the wrong answer,” Biden said at the World Economic Forum in Davos in 2017.
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In a joint speech in January of 2019, Schumer and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi responded to Trump on border security, saying they do believe there should be a border wall and that women and children illegally entering the U.S. is not a threat to security.
“We all agree we need to secure our borders while honoring our values…we can build the infrastructure and roads at our ports of entry, we can install new technology to scan cars and trucks for drugs coming into our nation, we can hire the person we need to facilitate trade and immigration at the border, we can find innovation to detect unauthorized crossings,” Pelosi said. “The fact is, the women and children at the border are not a security threat…they’re a humanitarian challenge.”
Schumer followed up by saying: “We can secure our border without an ineffective, expensive wall, and we can welcome legal immigrants and refugees without compromising safety and security. The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30-foot wall.”
Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has been pushing for amnesty for illegal immigrants, joining protesters outside the Capitol in 2019 to call for amnesty for those with Temporary Protected Status orders, demanding they be allowed to stay permanently in the U.S. Ocasio-Cortez was joined by members of “the Squad,” Fox News reported.
Republican Florida Sen. Marco Rubio called Biden’s immigration plan “blanket amnesty” and a “non-starter” in a statement released Tuesday. (RELATED: Here Are The Seven House Republicans Who Voted For Amnesty Bill)
“America should always welcome immigrants who want to become Americans. But we need laws that decide who and how many people can come here, and those laws must be followed and enforced,” Rubio said. “There are many issues I think we can work cooperatively with President-elect Biden, but a blanket amnesty for people who are here unlawfully isn’t going to be one of them,” he said
The Daily Caller spoke to Republican Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, who lives in a border state, about Democrats’ stance on border security, to which he slammed the idea of stopping construction on the border wall and giving amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants. (RELATED: ‘We’re Going To Send A Vast Majority Of You Back’: How Joe Biden Handled A Migrant Crisis In 2014)
“Democrats have wasted no time in weakening America’s border security and setting the stage for a historic surge of illegal immigrants over the next four years. By stopping the border wall construction, ending immigration enforcement policies, and proposing amnesty for millions of illegal aliens, Democrats are jeopardizing our nation’s security and sovereignty,” Biggs said.
“Coming from a border state, I understand how vital border security is for our communities, which is why I will oppose any of these misguided efforts,” he continued.
Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy, who also lives in a border state, also blasted Democrats for wanting to give amnesty to illegal immigrants when asked by the Daily Caller.
“When the Secure Fence Act of 2006 passed with bipartisan support, even Sen. Schumer and then-Senator Biden voted for it. Then, for a while, Democrats understood that they at least needed to pay lip service to border security if they wanted to have a debate about amnesty,” Roy said.
“Now, President Biden reportedly plans to move forward on amnesty for some 11 million illegal aliens while opening up our southern border via executive order, hamstringing ICE, suspending deportations, halting construction along the border, and ending our cooperation with Mexico. This is a recipe for a border crisis like we’ve never seen before, a slap in the face to everyone who ever came to this country legally, and a complete mockery of the rule of law,” he continued.
Biden signed an executive order to stop the construction of the border wall Tuesday.